The 17th annual What Kids Are Reading report from Renaissance considers the books read and enjoyed, by almost 1.2 million primary and secondary-aged children in the UK and Ireland, over an entire academic year. 

Thanks to additional insights from the National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey and those from other contributors, such as the Redhill Trust, the report remains the most comprehensive picture of children’s reading habits. Despite another slight dip in overall reading levels, there are some encouraging signs. For instance, there appears to be an increase in the amount of time allocated to reading in schools, which has risen across the board having declined last year. 

As ever, the report provides teachers, librarians and also parents with useful information on the books and authors that are most engaging pupils of all ages. Further insights and inspiration can also be found in the nominees selected by the Accelerated Reader Content Team for the Quiz Writers’ Choice Awards, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. 

For the first time, however, we have also listed the Top 100 titles by Gender, Year and Country for you to explore online. These are available alongside other interesting articles from teacher-turned-author, Matt Beighton, and popular children’s author Dan Freedman, whose acclaimed Jamie Johnson series is now a hit TV show on CBBC.    

Finally, on behalf of Renaissance, I would like to thank the report author, Professor Keith Topping, and all the contributors – especially Dr Christina Clark and Irene Picton from the NLT, and Professor Sarah McGeown from Edinburgh University.